Archive for July, 2009

We were able to spot the International Space Station, with Space Shuttle (Endeavor) still attached to it, fly-by on the night sky just over Tallahassee and Florida. First we looked at a plane (obviously with red light and blinking lights) then we started to track a very bright object moving very fast and when we checked the web page it was the correct time.

It was really bright for about a minute tracking from North West toward South. Then as it flew above us and toward SE it quickly faded and was almost lost from our observation. When we looked at the sun’s light fading, it is likely that we were able to see the ISS as a bright object as it was still reflecting the bright sunlight.

STS-127 (Endeavour; Orbiter Vehicle 105 OV-105) Space Shuttle Lanuch PostponedSaturdary, July 11, 2009Cape Canaverel, FLWe were here at noon for the STS-127 Space Shuttle launch scheduled for 7:32 PM. But due to heavy thunder storms last night 7 lightnings struck the space shuttle’s launch pad’s vicinity. The NASA engineers and scientists decided to make sure everthing is OK before the shuttle was launched. So they postponed the launch by 24 hours. During that time they will check all the vital components to find out whether there are problems. If every thing works out fine, the shuttle will be launched on Sunday, July 12, 2009 at 7:12 PM.

Sunday, July 12, 2009.

The preparations began for the launch. We went on a tour of the Kennedy Space Center. We also saw a movie at the IMAX Center. It is a hot summer day with high humidity. After the movie was over, we settled down at the Visitor’s Complex and waited for the launch. The giant TV showed the minute-minute by activities and an astronaut answered questions from the audience. Around 6:30 PM they announced that there is a possibility that the launch could be jeopardized due to the gather stroms to the North and East of KSC.Then at around 7:01 PM (T minus 9 minutes) they scrubbed the launch since the strom clouds with possibility of lightning was within the allowable 20 mile radius. We were all disappointed but considering there were 7 astronauts and important scientific equipment inside the shuttle we understood and left town.

Monday, July 13, 2009.

The bad luck continued even after we had left town. Due to bad weather, this time from the South side of the launch pad the clouds gathered, it has been reported, that NASA controller’s have to postpone the launch for another day. Since they had tried three days in a row they will give a day’s rest for every one and attempt a launch on Wednesday, July 15, 2009.

We celebrated 4th of July by hoisting the American flag in the morning and doing some small fireworks with our neighbor.In the evening the Tom Brown Park firework was spectacular. There were new designs like smiley face, heart, and multiple red-white-blue works.